ITEM

What ITEM does

ITEM d.o.o. is a Slovenian intellectual property law firm founded in the early 1990s, headquartered in Ljubljana, and operating as a patent and trademark agency. The firm is the largest specialized IP team in Slovenia, with practitioners covering all eight Balkan jurisdictions (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania) and conducting international procedures before WIPO, EUIPO, and the EPO. Its service portfolio spans patent prosecution, trademark registration, design rights, copyright, IP litigation, and anti-counterfeiting, with in-house legal counsel enabling full enforcement cycles from registration through courtroom representation.

The firm serves a diversified client base including enterprises in pharmaceuticals, electronics, luxury goods, fashion, food and beverage, and automotive, alongside SMEs, startups, and universities. Its business model is professional services fee-for-service, with quoted consultations and project-based filings rather than disclosed subscriptions or volume pricing. ITEM is privately held, with no parent company, and held among the top 6% financially reliable firms in Slovenia. The agency has held the WTR 1000 GOLD band for 15 consecutive years and has been ranked by Chambers Europe since 2012, and its practitioners have participated in the development of Slovenian IP legislation.

ITEM's recent operational signals include active hiring in 2022-2023, succession planning for retiring senior staff, and continued multi-jurisdictional expansion. The firm's senior leadership includes Director Gregor Maček and co-founder Berta Nahtigal, supported by European patent attorneys and attorneys-at-law. No AI/ML capabilities, technology platform, or productized offering is disclosed—the firm's value proposition is built on practitioner expertise, regulatory access, and brand reputation rather than technology.

Name

ITEM

Legal name

ITEM d.o.o.

Website

https://item.si

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ITEM d.o.o. is Slovenia's largest specialized IP law firm, providing patent, trademark, design, copyright, litigation, and anti-counterfeiting services to enterprise, SME, startup, and university clients across the Balkans and internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intellectual Property Law Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Patent Prosecution & Portfolio Management (BPAHAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Trademark Prosecution & Brand Protection (BPAHAMAB), IP Search, Watch & Competitive Intelligence (BPAHAMAI), IP Due Diligence & Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) Analysis (BPAHAMAG)

Keywords

• Intellectual property law
• Patent prosecution services
• Trademark registration services
• Industrial design protection
• IP litigation

Headquarters

HQ city

Ljubljana

HQ country

Slovenia

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Advisory Services: Professional services for intellectual property matters including trademark registration, patent filing, IP litigation, opposition proceedings, customs measures, and portfolio management.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

ITEM is a Slovenian intellectual property law firm founded in 1993 that provides comprehensive IP services including trademark and patent prosecution, industrial design registration, copyright advisory, IP litigation, anti-counterfeiting/customs enforcement, portfolio management, domain dispute resolution, and opposition proceedings before SIPO, EUIPO, EPO, and WIPO. The firm serves multinational corporations, SMEs, startups, and research institutions across Slovenia, the Balkans, and internationally.

Product overview

ITEM is a Patent and Trademark Agency providing comprehensive intellectual property services. The firm operates as a unified legal services practice offering trademark registration and protection, patent services, industrial design protection, copyright services, IP litigation, customs measures and anti-counterfeiting, portfolio management, domain name disputes, opposition proceedings, and negotiations/settlements. ITEM handles matters across Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania, as well as international procedures including EU trademarks (EUTM), European patents (EPO), and international trademark and design registrations through WIPO. The company does not offer a software product but rather professional legal and advisory services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trademark Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 15 consecutive years ranked in WTR 1000 GOLD band
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Bird & Bird: Global law firm with one of the largest dedicated IP practices worldwide and growing CEE presence. Comparable as a broad incumbent that multinational IP clients frequently engage for pan-European coordination, increasingly competing with regional specialists like ITEM for cross-border IP mandates.
• Wolf Theiss (Slovenia): Austrian-headquartered CEE-focused law firm with a Ljubljana office and IP capabilities. Comparable as a regional incumbent serving the same Balkan markets and multinational client base, offering IP services as part of a broader legal practice that competes with ITEM for cross-border mandates.
• Schoenherr (Slovenia): Major Central and Eastern European full-service law firm with an established Ljubljana office and active IP practice. Comparable as a broader incumbent operating in the same Slovenian market with overlapping IP capabilities, though Schoenherr's IP work sits within a wider corporate/commercial portfolio rather than as a standalone specialty.
• Hogan Lovells: Global law firm with a major IP practice spanning patents, trademarks, and litigation across Europe. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose integrated IP platform is frequently selected by multinationals for cross-border portfolio management, representing the type of competitor ITEM faces for premium global mandates.
• CMS (Slovenia): Global law firm with a Slovenia presence and full-service IP offerings across multiple CEE jurisdictions. Comparable as a broad incumbent that multinational clients may select over ITEM when seeking single-firm coordination across European IP portfolios, offering patent and trademark prosecution alongside litigation.

Direct peers

• PATENTNA PISARNA JUREK M.sc. d.o.o. Slovenian patent and trademark agency offering patent prosecution, trademark registration, and design protection services. Comparable as a small specialist Slovenian IP firm competing with ITEM for domestic patent and trademark mandates from SMEs, inventors, and corporate clients.
• Odvetniška pisarna Šelih & partnerji: Slovenian law firm with established IP and commercial law practices (former employer of current ITEM practitioner Veronika Vojir Vokal). Comparable as a domestic Slovenian legal services competitor offering overlapping IP advisory and litigation services to similar Slovenian corporate clients.
• Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & partnerji: Slovenian law firm with a recognized IP practice competing with ITEM for domestic IP mandates. Comparable as a Slovenia-domiciled full-service firm offering IP litigation, patent, and trademark services to similar Slovenian and regional corporate clients.
• P-Patent (Patentna pisarna d.o.o.): Slovenian patent and trademark agency operating as a direct competitor to ITEM in domestic IP prosecution and portfolio management. Comparable as a similarly sized specialist IP firm targeting the same Slovenian and regional client base with overlapping patent and trademark service offerings.

Regional players

• Karanović & Partners: Leading regional law firm with offices across the Balkans and CEE, including Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia. Comparable as a regional competitor covering some of the same Balkan jurisdictions ITEM serves, with an IP practice competing for the same multinational clients seeking Balkan IP coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ITEM